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User blog:Scottick/Scottick's Favorite Music: Touhou Project Arranges
DISCLAIMER: NO ONE ON THIS WIKI OWNS THE FOLLOWING VIDEOS AND SONGS. Directory: beatmania IIDX (1st-10th) beatmania IIDX (RED-tricoro) beatmania IIDX (SPADA-SINOBUZ) Touhou Project Yes, the remixes (or arranges as the fandom calls them) needed their own page. They'd start to overcrowd the regular page otherwise, and you've already seen what happened to the IIDX pages. This time they'll have actual organization too! These arranges are not just remixes by some amatuers on Youtube with Fruity Loops or something. These are dedicated musicians and music circles made to create and sell albums of these arranges, and they cover all sorts of genres. To put this phenomenon into perspective, a website collecting a torrent of as many Touhou arranges as possible has over ONE TERRABYTE worth of songs and counting (1 TB is HUGE, if the download time was bad enough, you wouldn't even have enough space to keep all those songs!). So it's both near impossible to not hear a Touhou arrange at least once in your life and it's near impossible to hear all of them. So this won't have all of them, just the ones I enjoyed the most. Aquaelie Dark Clock ~ Death Dial So one day, Aquaelie listened to Lunar Clock and said,"You know what, ZUN? You were on to something giving Sakyua hard rock as her theme, but what if we took that a step further?" And so Dark Clock ~ Death Dial was created. If you can imagine everything great about Lunar Clock, Dark Clock is all that, but faster and amplified. It captures Sakyua's elegance, but it also reflects her aggressive killing instinct. It all adds up to one of the best arranges I've ever heard. Alstromeria Records Bad Apple!! Okay, so some may argue that this song is overplayed, overrated, etc. Basically any of the complaints with anything that get super popular, but you know what? This is, once again, my list, and I'll list anything I dang please as long as I like it! Bad Apple!! is ridiculously catchy and addictive, the vocals are great, the lyrics reflect the overall theme and purpose of Gensokyo's youkai, and the video is...massively memetic. Is it any wonder why the Touhou fandom loves it so? Incidentally, I'm also horribly addicted to Bad Apple!!. Please send help. COOL&CREATE Last Brutal Sister Flandre Man, this song gets so discredited it's not funny. Though once you do get past the legions of people incorrectly associating Last Brutal Sister Flandre ''with...just about anything, it is yet another great speed remix by Cool&Create. All that added speed takes away the childishness of ''U.N. Owen was her? and amplifies the insanity and doomsday feeling. This is probably one of the other reasons people like to characterize Flandre as bat-mess insane. Or maybe I'm being an assuming idiot again. Night of Nights Okay, okay, so that video isn't the official video that goes with Night of Nights, but hey, the song's basically uncut and the video's hilarious, so what's it matter? Oh Meiling, when will you learn to never sleep on the job... Night of Nights takes Flowering Night and injects it with Lunar Clock's energy, minus the hardness of course. The result is a catchy rearrangement that feels like something out of a speed dance album. Again, I'm not much of a fan of Flowering Night, but Night of Nights is still a cool remix. The Fastest Highest Shutter Girl COOL&CREATE seems to have found out when you translate Aya's PoFV theme to rock, the result is something that's enjoyable hot-blooded. It's like the high speed shutterbug crow it's themed after, being so quick to dive into the action. Plus those lyrics are quite fitting of her personality. Never has a character I've felt so indifferent about suddenly become just that bit more admirable. CROW'SCLAW A Sense of Distance Quite a fitting name for this arrange. For a metal arrange of Fate of 60 Years, A Sense of Distance is quite emotionally charged and evokes a feeling of great distance from something important. It's all thanks to some amazing vocals and guitar work. Surprisingly, the lyrics aren't quite as melancholy as they sound. Dark PHOENiX Last Remote Great gracious heavens above. The blend of guitars and orchestration set to the melodies of Last Remote translate the theme well into hard rocking territory. Well, actually just the guitars since the only orchestration is at the beginning with a beautiful piano intro. The rest of the song is a Last Remote metal assault, and that's always welcome. Plain Asia Orchestra + rock + Plain Asia = a math joke that didn't really work. But seriously, this arrange is so cool. The beginning piano is a sign for how awesome the rest of the song will be, and yes, the orchestration/rock combination for the rest of this song is quite exquisite. I just wish it had more of that piano from the beginning. dBu Music Strawberry Crisis!! Another PC-98 arrange, this time of Yumemi, one of Gensokyo's resident scientists (or would be if the PC-98 games were canon). The original Strawberry Crisis!! was already tense enough, but leave it in the hands of dBu to turn into perhaps their most hardcore arrange to date. It's such a serious sounding rock piece. The Grimoire For Alice (dBu Music) In contrast to dBu's upcoming song on this list, Unknown Girl, The Grimoire for Alice uses a lot more synths and guitars. The result is still a cool battle song, but one that's more aggressive. Quite fitting for the time when Alice used to be a much more threatening boss, but that was PC-98, a time almost non-canon by now. Also that video does not necessarily reflect this song or the writer's personal shipping preferences. Actually, what am I saying? I don't ship. Unknown Girl Hard rock, majestic trumpets, and a piano. Nothing more can do more justice for a U.N. Owen was her? rearrangement. A fluctuating BPM also helps in capturing Flandre's dangerously childlike and unpredictable nature. If you ask me, this one is more action-packed than Last Brutal Sister Flandre if only because this one feels way more like battle music than Last Brutal Sister Flandre did. I also like this one better, but both are still good either way. Demetori Emotional Skyscraper ~ World's End Got 7 minutes to kill? Then you must hear this rearrangement. Sorry, xi-on, but I already have a new favorite Emotional Skyscraper rearrangement. And yes, this is once again 7 minutes worth of gnarly guitars composed in the form of Emotional Skyscraper, another one of my favorites. I might recommend listening to a few other speed metal/heavy metal arranges to prepare yourself for a full Demetori heavy metal assault. Faith is for the Transient People - Jehovah's YaHVeH Speaking of speed metal, DANG. I already said that Faith is for the Transient People translates well into rock remixes, and Demetori proves that all too well. Just listen to Jehovah's YaHVeH and prepare for a speed metal punch-to-the-face harder than the first time you listened to Through the Fire and the Flames. Unless you never listened to Through the Fire and the Flames ever, in which case: why not, and you are so not prepared for Jehovah's YaHVeH. Septette for the Dead Princess ~ Ascending into Naught Pure-blooded metal is always nice, and especially since it's another rearrangement of Septette for the Dead Princess. Demetori does it once again with more crunching guitars reinterpretting one of my favorite songs. It works in both reflecting Remilia's charisma and her sheer power. So if you've got another 7 minutes to kill... Floating Cloud Deep Mountain ~ Paradise Snowwoman Letty Whiterock's theme redone as a Japanese folk song. It's not quite as wintry, but it delivers in being a peaceful folk song. It very easily paints an image of Gensokyo's vast green hills covered in snow. It's a nice image indeed, almost makes you want to go there yourself. I say almost, because it's not quite as peaceful for most of the humans there... Hatsunetsumiko's Rainy Stars You'll notice that despite Kogasa being my favorite Touhou that there's hardly any arranges of her theme on this list. Unfortunately, very few of these arranges are worth noting, with the exception of Rainy Stars, which was featured in Kinema Kan 2. This arrange is just so soothing and relaxing. This combined with the video that is equal parts adorable and hilarious makes for a very enjoyable arrange. IOSYS Border of Death Okay, so it's clearly not an IOSYS song with their cutesy style (and it's not the most ideal song to start the IOSYS segment off with), but you know what? It's my list, my preferences, and IOSYS's darker songs are a rarity. Really, how else could you do Necrofantasia any justice other than making it darker? The Engrish, when it shows up, is pretty bad, I'll admit that. Getting past that, Border of Death has an essence of beauty within its darkness that makes it stand out among other Necrofantasia rearrangements, or at least the ones I've heard. I'd easily say Border of Death is my favorite IOSYS arrange. Incidentally, anyone just that bothered by the Engrish can check out the instrumental version. All the beauty and darkness in a raw package. It's arguably better than the vocal version, but why take my word for it? Decide for yourselves. Cirno's Perfect Math Class "BAKA! BAKA! BAKA BAKA! BAKA BAKA!" And now what most people are in the fandom for: sickening adorableness and maddening catchiness! Not that I mind catchiness, cause this song's been stuck in my head since forever. It also does a good job at characterizing the Cirno that the fandom is so familiar with. I mean seriously, "The answer is 0 because Gensokyo has no buses!" Now that is troll logic. Hilarious troll logic. And always remember: "Take it easy!" (CAVED) Convictor Yamaxanadu! "DANZAI! (DANZAI!)" Watcha gonna do, when the Yamaxanadu's out to judge you? The heavy guitar riffs and the increasingly enraged vocals reflect both Shikieiki's power and wrath, all unfortunately wasted on youkai who will never learn. Speaking of which, the subject of the song is appropriate and rather humorous since Shikieiki's really badmouthing everyone that she can more than she is geniuinely judging and criticizing them. Hey, it's not our fault you're as flat as an ironing board, Shikieiki. Oh great, I'm going to Hell for that. But it was worth it. Flower of the Sun Apologies for the low-quality sound, I just wanted to have the video included in. It's that good. Anyways, Flower of the Sun is a rather fast-paced version of Yuuka's PoFV theme, which fits the situation of the battle everyone against her is in. No point worrying about how dangerous she is when you're already fighting her and looking to survive! It's a bit on the short side, but so was the original song, so oh well. But while it lasts, those guitars are awesome. Marisa Stole the Precious Thing "Why why why why don't I miss you a lot forever?" Okay, so I mentioned this song as a joke in Doll Judgment, so it's only appropriate I add the arrange that started the inside joke. As you can expect from a IOSYS rearrangement, Marisa Stole the Precious Thing is unbearably catchy. I'm not a big fan of this interpretation of Alice as a tsundere for Marisa, though. I prefer her as the cold loner that she is in canon, but otherwise this is a good rearrangement. Miracle Hinacle So after the catchiness of the last two songs, what could possibly top them? Well, not much. But I'm not here to compare IOSYS songs. Anyways, about Miracle Hinacle. If you're ever, ever feeling down, you just need to listen to this song. I can gurantee you can never be in a bad mood after you listen to it. It worked with me, and it works with tons of other people. Hina is a good girl, isn't she? SUGAR WARNING: Don't say I didn't warn you if the sweetness kills you. Neko Miko Reimu As you can guess from the name, it's an arrange of Maiden's Capriccio about, what else, Reimu the catgirl. It's on the rock side of songs, which for IOSYS doesn't happen often, so that's a plus. That, and true to any and all of IOSYS's most popular songs, it's catchy. Seriously. Don't be surprised if you catch yourself humming this song later. Usatei "I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE TEWI!" ...okay, I'm not gonna lie: without translations, that first half is really confusing. From extensive research (i.e. a Google search), it's two guys playing a bet match of PoFV, and then they both end up using Tewi. The video for the second half is actually pretty cool, and true to IOSYS, the song is catchy as get-out. If you listen with the right mindset, you can almost get that feeling of retro gaming, even. Kisida Kyoudan and the Akeboshi Rockets The Brilliant Star Rocket Once again, like the other Aya arranges on this list, this song did something more than, of course, make me like it. It gave me an appreciation for Aya and her game Shoot the Bullet, where you go through the same danmaku insanity, but instead of firing at your opponent as well, you're only shooting photos of them. This song feels as if it's saying, "Gensokyo is full of dangerous youkai with dangerous danmaku abilities. There's only one newsreporter that can dare brave through their attacks to get their photos: Aya Shameimaru!" YU-MU Dang. YU-MU is amazing. I'm not sure what else to say, cause it really is. The lyrics reflect Yuuka's current state of mind encountering the portagonists at this point: as a youkai, she's lived for a long time and people just come and go. Even if you are the heroes, to her you'll never leave an overall lasting impression. It's melancholy, but at least it's better than the (actually rather accurate) fan-interpretations that Yuuka is a totally unfeeling sadist. Still unfeeling, though. Not sure if she's just putting up a facade, but we're too scared to find out. Magnum Opus Reincarnation Magnum Opus is right; this is probably my favorite Mima arrange. Incidentally, Reincarnation was also my favorite of Mima's theme. They did did an amazing job with this rearrangement. Everything from the aggressive guitars to the synths to...oh, well I guess that's everything. But they're all played so well it doesn't matter! NeutraL Bhava-Agra as Seen Through a Child's Mind For a song that uses guitars, it feels quite somber and lonely, like ascending to heaven only to find there's no one there. And why is it so sad? It looks at Tenshi's childhood. Again, Heaven's a nice place unless it's the only place you've been for your entire life, and it's not like there's many other celestials with you up there. So Tenshi does have justification for acting like such a brat. Last Remote "Atmospheric" is the key word with this arrange (and it's been a while since I used that word). It's not immediately in-your-face like Dark PHOENiX's arrange, but it remains calm in the calm sections with pianos and then gets more aggressive as the song progresses. This to me feels more like the most faithful Last Remote arrange I've heard thus far. NJK Record Crimson Glory As you can see, there's not too many Septette remixes on this list. Whether that's because I haven't been looking around enough or because there's not that many good remixes is a good question, but I do know that Crimson Glory is one of those good remixes. And it is gooooood. It starts with a slow waltz type of song, then progresses over into rock, the whole time maintaining charisma true to Remilia. Spring of Dreams You thought it was over with the end of the IIDX list, but it's not over yet. It's never over. You cannot escape...THE EUROBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT! Let's look at the checklist here...catchy? Check. Cutesy? Check. Gratuitous Engrish? ...check. Well, what can you expect from Touhou eurobeat? By the way, I'm totally not mentioning this song because a certain Touhou manga artist who uses Kogasa as a stand-in for real-life events referenced it. I dunno why you're asking such a specific question. Not at all! O-Life Japan Reincarnation O-Life Japan's interpretation of Reincarnation doesn't start off as face-melting as Magnum Opus's, but instead it opens with orchestration that paints the beginning of an epic fight. It takes about 2 minutes for the real battle to set in, and once it does, BOOM. Then the face-melting awesomeness begins. And just as quickly as it came it stops...a brief calm before it comes back with a last stand sort of feel. It's a Reincarnation that's more on the level of emotion. The Footsteps that Summon Winter This is an example of a remix that expands on the source song rather than adds a twist to it. And that is why I love The Footsteps that Summon Winter, because in spite of it being a remix, I could see it being in an actual Touhou game. Not sure why I enjoy classical ballads like this, I just do. Not to mention the well-done video, even though I'm sure that's not the official video for the song. Other For the one-offs and the arranges that really don't fit anywhere else. City of Solitude What's this? A stage song arrange? Yes, and it's incredible. I'm not really sure what is it about Voile, Magic Library being okay, but always getting great remixes. City of Solitude is a classical-techno mixture of goodness that's no exception to this. The techno synths and piano mix to paint an atmosphere appropriate for the vastest library in Gensokyo. Prologue and Title Theme And now for something completely different...okay, well it's not a remix, per se, but it's from a fanmade game, so in my book, it counts. It also counts because for the title theme to a Mega Man-Touhou fangame, it's ridiculously addictive while also giving off the urge to go out and do something totally awesome: borrow* more books from Patchouli! *steal Pupil of Prayer ~ 3rd Eye = Sad Eye ~ A rather somber trance remix of Satori's stage theme. Pupil of Prayer takes a darker look into Satori's job as the maintainer of Hell. Imagine what that's like, having to tend to the souls of the doomed under the surface for life, only getting to see the world beyond but never experiencing it. This along with catchy synths is what placed Pupil of Prayer on this list. Plus the video is all sorts of awesome. Scarlet Zone Hey, guess what, guys? It's time for mashup EUROBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAT! You know, of all things to be mashed-up, I never thought that RED ZONE, Septette for the Dead Princess, and U.N. Owen was her? would work together that well. but here comes Amaze to prove me wrong! I'm not really sure I can say much else, other than the fact that it's one of the few RED ZONE remixes that is a remix. It's 3 great songs mashed into one, what else are you expecting? Three-legged Crow Hoo boy. Nuclear Fusion was already an intimidating song on a large scale, but Three-legged Crow takes that scale and blows to epic proportions. You've probably figured that I love orchestration by now, so all I really need to say right now is that this song captures just how serious of a fight you're in for against Utsuho. Do or die, win or all of Gensokyo gets nuked... ottiki Unyutei Unyutei takes the retro gaming concept of Usatei and takes it notch further with a remix of Nuclear Fusion. The synths have a definite retro theme to it, the sampling is fitting and interesting, and the video goes between cutesy, amusing, and looking cool as heck. In contrast to her original theme, Unyutei reflects more of Utsuho's bird-brained silliness, which is made easier to personify thanks to the fast-pace from Usatei. Also, it may just be my total IIDX trance that I'm still in the middle of, but I feel like Unyutei is one of those songs that could really translate well into being a IIDX song. RD Sound A-Yah-YAh-YaH-YAH!! So I don't really care much for Aya. But somehow her PoFV theme seems to have high potential for arranges, the uniquely named A-Yah-YAh-YaH-YAH!! being one of those arranges. Everything here works, the vocals, the strings, the guitars, the pianos, to provide a feeling of being Gensokyo's fastest flying newsreporter, flying low and slow in search of news and going in for the strike immediately as soon as the opportunity strikes. Just goes to show how much power the fandom has - it can make me admire characters I wouldn't normally like. And with a song, no less. Sound.AVE Makai Provincial City Esoteria I've actually been listening to several metal arranges back-to-back for the sake of making this list, so it's a bit of a relief to hear a piece that's primarily orchestra over the rock bits. Anyways, this song gets it across that Shou is the true mastermind behind UFO. The fans can Flanderize her as an absent-minded moron who can't keep track of her Jeweled Pagoda even if was chained to her arm, but in the context of the games, she planned everything all the way to Byakruen's revival. She's rightfully earned her spot as a Stage 5 boss for a reason. Sync.Art Sword of Valiant So what is Sword of Valiant? The simple answer is that it's a techno remix of Catastrophe in Bhava-agra ~ Wonderful Heaven. The long answer? Well, I wish I had that. I really can't think of much to say, 'cause there isn't really anything more to say. Good remix as always, though I wish it was a bit more notable than that. Sword of Valiant -Dark Power- So it's a good thing Sync.Art made a hard rock arrange of their arrange! As far as I can tell, the vocals are somewhat similar to the original Sword of Valiant, so the only difference is the feel of the song. Sword of Valiant -Dark Power-'' fulfills its title by being much more serious, much more aggressive, and much more reflective of how dangerous Tenshi is. Who worse to give disasterous powers than the person with a child-like demeanor, right? t+pazolite Sayonaramatane Yes, underneath all the speed metal, folk and pop of Touhou arranges still lives the hardcore and breakbeats world, one you should be familiar with if you looked at my IIDX list. For me, the main draw of ''Sayonaramatane is the vocals and the crazy drums. So you see, there really is something for everyone in the world of Touhou arranges, even for the bassheads who live to blast their speakers at the limit. TatshMusicCircle Floating Darkness Remember Tatsh from the IIDX list? Well here he is making Touhou arranges! Actually, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that a IIDX artist makes Touhou arranges, since Touhou is so widespread anyways. Heck, BEMANI even released an album of Touhou arranges made by BEMANI artists and included some of the songs in certain BEMANI games. Anyways, Tatsh did a great job in rearranging Heian Alien. Floating Darkness feels a lot more melodic than Heian Alien did, which is always a plus for me, since I prefer melody over beats (usually). The song as a whole fittingly has an overall feeling of darkness that I like. Darkness doesn't always have to be aversive evil. THOUSAND LEAVES Ultimate Darkness Mima, being one of the very few geniunely villianous youkai in Touhou (unfortunately she also happens to have only appeared in the PC-98 games), naturally has a theme that reflects that feeling facing someone evil. Then comes THOUSAND LEAVES to turn that evil theme into pure speed metal awesomeness. Japanese speed metal, why must you be so amazing?! WAVE Devine Purple WAVE asked to themselves one day, "What happens if we take Necrofantasia, slow it down to half-tempo and orchestrate the result?" Devine Purple happened. It essentially is Necrofantasia orchestrated, which would've been all right on it own, but the slower tempo changes the mood of the song from "a killer boss theme" to "a majestic theme for the woman who is essentially the god of Gensokyo." It fits Yukari quite well. You can even play the song at x1.5 speed to get the original tempo back! Isn't that cool. xi-on Emotion Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind (xi-on) I never realized how much I wanted a rock rearrangement of Emotional Skyscraper, but thanks to xi-on, I may now fulfill this unthought desire. Does it still have the raw emotion that the original Emotional Skyscraper had? Actually, it does. By a LOT. It still feels as powerful as the original song. And is the melody still beautiful? Absolutely, and somehow the genre shift didn't get in the way of that, either. Yuuhei Satellite Clouds Over the Moon, Flowers in the Wind If this sounds suspiciously like an anime opening, consider your intuition right, because this song is the third opening theme for Touhou Kaleidoscope, a cool but short series that's covered EoSD and PCB somewhat loosely. A shame I couldn't put the version with the video since it's too short, but I suppose you don't really need it to appreciate the beautiful vocals and cool guitars. This is up there with Bad Apple!! and Border of Death for my favorite arranges. The Gensokyo the Gods Loved Touhou Kaleidoscope's first opening. How fitting Yuuhei Satellite did all three openings for the series, huh? As they did with Clouds Over the Moon, they gave this song such beautiful vocals to fit with the original song's beauty. It's a bit calm for an opening, even against the song above, but as a standalone song, it comes very close to a perfect The Gensokyo the Gods Loved arrange. ziki_7 Thor -alpha break VI- AKA Touhou as done by Crystal Method. The guitars are gnarly but not outwardly screaming at you. Pauses litter the the song as a clear nod to Sakuya's power. The biggest nod to her power has to be the big pause as the song suddenly throws riffs at you before resuming to melting your face off. It's a song that personifies the character it's based on through the feel and composition of the song rather than by lyrics. That's what makes Thor my favorite Lunar Clock arrange. ZUN Yes, even our head-priest makes arranges of his own songs. It's interesting to see ZUN remix or remaster his own songs, because they're all still in his own unique style. A Maiden's Illusionary Funeral ~ Necro-Fantasy This is a marked improvement over the original Necro-Fantasy. It's thanks to the start-up adding even more tension to the song and minor changes here-and-there that took out some energy in exchange for beauty and tension. Apart from that it's the same Necro-Fantasy we love but let get overshadowed by Necrofantasia since, guess what, that song got the ZUN remastering treatment as well... Locked Girl ~ the Girl's Secret Room Oh yeah, Patchouli has a theme, too. And this arrange is considerably less lively. Kinda like Patchy when she's not in the midst of danmaku battle. In the end she's just a shut-in witch and librarian living a secluded life, but she's accepted that. Necrofantasia Unlike the other ZUN arranges here, this one kept its hands off the original melodies. But what it did include is an intro and some awesome extra bits that make it even better than the original Necrofantasia. Apart from that, I can't come up with anything more to say. It's the same Necrofantasia but longer. Shanghai Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea Oh right, Meiling exists, too. It's admittedly kinda hard for the fandom (and me too unfortunately) to remember Meiling exists, at least in terms of arranges. Just like the arrange of Locked Girl from before, this song got a simple tone shift. The result is a song capturing something of a more peaceful and carefree side of Meiling which unfortunately few fan artists acknowledge. Sure it's still funny to represent Meiling as an incompetent moron who constantly gets the short end of the stick, but I would like to see more of a competent, or at least an amiciable, Meiling every once in a while. Finale Because I always feel like I have to end these lists with a song that's worthy of being the last one. This spot will be reserved with whatever arrange I feel best fits a finale until a better one comes by. Though considering how often I update these pages, I'm sure that'll never happen. LOG So by all means it sounds next-to-nothing like the original song it's based on, Native Faith. But with a piano this somber yet beautiful, who cares? It's quite short at only two minutes and quite slow with its melodies. I feel that for the piano and the grand orchestra that kicks in after about a minute and a half, it's as long as it needs to be. That's it for the arranges. Like I said, there is over one terabyte of these arranges, so there is that slim chance that I'll add more to this list if I ever find any more that I like. Considering the wide musical range of remixes, that shouldn't be too hard. Now if you'll excuse me, Imma go listen to Bad Apple!! againOHGODPLEASESENDHELP . - Scottick Category:Blog posts